Vivo has announced the global launch of its latest flagship device, the X80 Pro. As with past vivo flagships, the X80 Pro puts a heavy emphasis on its imaging capabilities with an impressive quadruple camera array on the back headlined by a custom Samsung ISOCELL GNV 50MP image sensor with optical image stabilization.

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Since vivo focuses so much on the imaging capabilities of its X80 Pro, let’s start off by breaking down the updated camera array and imaging features vivo’s latest flagship has to offer. Headlining the rear camera array is a custom 50MP ‘Ultra-Sensing’ Samsung ISOCELL GNV sensor that uses vivo’s sensor-shift optical image stabilization to keep the wide camera stable. Both the 48MP 1/2.0” ultrawide module and 12MP 2x ’portrait’ camera module appear to be the same found in the X80 Pro’s predecessors, but this year vivo has added sensor-shift optical image stabilization to the portrait camera for the first time ever. Rounding out the four-camera array is the same 8MP periscope 5x telephoto camera module. The front-facing selfie camera uses a 32MP 1/2.8”-type sensor with a 26mm full-frame equivalent F2.5 lens in front.

All of the cameras on the rear array of the X80 Pro use Zeiss’ T* coating, which vivo says ‘enhances visible light transmission rate, improves image quality, and more accurately reproduces colors.’ This coating works alongside various anti-reflection elements and other optical technologies to offer improved image capture.

While the sensors and optics play a vital role in capturing the images, all of the captured data has to get processed somewhere and that’s where vivo’s second-generation V1+ custom image signal processor (ISP) comes into play. This ISP is designed in-house by vivo to boost the capabilities of its photo and video features. The chip uses ‘an equivalent 32MB host-level SRAM for faster data processing’ and offers up a data throughput speed of ’approximately 8GB/s (actual value) and up to 25GB/s (design value) in theory.’ All of this is done while using ‘about 72% less power than other phones running the same [image processing] algorithms.’

Since vivo’s partnership with Zeiss began back in December 2020, the company has steadily been adding more Zeiss-branded features and this year is no different. In addition to the T* coating, vivo is once again using Zeiss-branded simulated bokeh rendering for its portrait mode feature, with simulations inspired by Zeiss’ Biotar, Sonnar, Planar and Distagon lens lineups. New this year is a Zeiss Cinematic Video Bokeh mode that works in both video and photo modes to capture a simulated anamorphic look at a 2.39:1 aspect ratio, complete with the signature oval bokeh and look we’re accustomed to associating with anamorphic lenses.

The X80 Pro also features Zeiss Natural Color rendering, which works with all camera modules to provide what is a more natural rendering of the scene. As you’ll see in the gallery below, vivo’s native color rendering creates very vibrant, saturated images, while the Zeiss Natural Color mode more accurate reflects what your eyes are seeing in real life. While we’ve only had the phone in hand a few days, we’ve captured a collection of sample images taken with the various capture modes for each of the four rear camera modules. Each image description explains which camera module it was shot with and with what shooting modes were turned on.

On the video front, vivo has has added new AI-powered video enhancements for low-light scenes, a new Active Centering OIS system that uses OIS and electronic image stabilization (EIS) to help reduce jitter when shooting handheld video and a new 360º Horizon Leveling Stabilization feature that uses the phone’s gyro sensor to better stabilize video to the horizon when the phone gets rotated.

With all of the camera features out of the way, let’s take a look at what’s powering the entire device. The X80 Pro is built around a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset with enhanced LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 solid state storage. To keep everything cool, vivo uses an ‘Ultra Large Liquid Cooling Vapor Chamber’ for heat dissipation. In front of all the power is a 6.78” LTPO3 AMOLED (120Hz, HDR10+, 1500 nits peak) display that offers a 1,440 x 3,200 pixel resolution (517ppi) in 20:9 ratio. Within the display is a new ‘3D Ultrasonic Large Fingerprint Sensor’ made by Qualcomm that’s both larger and faster than that found on its predecessors. Due to its larger size, there’s also an extra security feature that lets you require two fingers to be scanned at once for added protection from accidentally unlocking your device.

The charging capabilities of the X80 Pro include 80W FlashCharge, as well as 50W wireless Flash Charge with compatible chargers. With the 80W charging, the X80 Pro’s 4,700mAh battery can be fully charged from dead in just 35 minutes. Connectivity includes Wi-Fi 802.11 (a/b/g/n/ac/6), Bluetooth 5.2, GPS, NFC, an infrared blaster and single USB Type-C 3.1 port on the bottom of the device for charging and data transfer.

The global edition of the vivo X80 Pro is available in Cosmic Black, Blue and Orange colorways in three RAM/storage configurations: 8GB RAM/256GB UFS 3.1, 12GB RAM/256GB UFS 3.1 and 12GB RAM/512GB UFS 3.1. Pricing will vary depending on the market, but if past launches vivo global launches are anything to go by, we’ll likely see the roll out start in India before making its way to east Asia and Europe, with prices ranging between $900–1,400, depending on the configuration you go with.